1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric vehicle in which an output of a motor is transmitted to an axle through a reduction mechanism, thereby rotating a wheel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, various electric vehicles have been proposed in which an output of a motor is transmitted to an axle through a reduction mechanism, thereby rotating a wheel.
For example, in JP-U No. S53-136736, there is proposed an in-wheel motor electric vehicle in which a motor and a brake are provided within a wheel, and the wheel and an axle are supported by a double-sided swing arm.
Also, in JP-A No. 2008-100609, there is proposed an electric vehicle in which, on one side of a wheel, a motor and a reduction mechanism are built into a swing arm, and a brake is provided within the wheel, while on the other side of the wheel, an axle passing through the wheel is supported by an auxiliary arm, thereby supporting the wheel and the axle with a double-sided swing arm.
In this manner, in each of the electric vehicles disclosed in above-mentioned documents, both sides of the wheel and axle are supported by the double-sided swing arm. However, a heavy object, such as the motor, is disposed on a side (one side) of the wheel, leading to an application of a heavy load to only one side of the wheel. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve weight balance. In addition, in JP-A No. 2008-100609, both the reduction mechanism and the brake are disposed on one side of the wheel. This makes it more difficult to achieve weight balance.
Also, because a drive system such as the motor is collectively provided on one side of the wheel as described above, there is a problem of protrusion of the drive system from the wheel.